German laid open Patent No. 22 14 163 discusses a device which has a mounting board, an electric component being arranged on the mounting board. The electric component is supplied with voltage via supply leads. The supply leads and the electric component are protected from external influences and damage by a hardened passivating gel acting as a protective layer.
In a first variant, the protective layer surrounds the electric component and the supply leads. Since the passivating gel is applied in a liquid state to the electric component, it is not possible in this case to cover precisely-defined surfaces with the protective layer, since the passivating gel flows apart (thins out) before hardening. Another arrangement consists in placing a frame around an electric component having supply leads and subsequently filling up the frame with the passivating gel, which forms the protective layer. In so doing, leakage can occur between the mounting board and the frame, so that passivating gel flows through between the mounting board and the frame and covers areas of the mounting board that had not been anticipated.
It is also known to arrange a frame around an electric component and to tightly bond the entire frame to the mounting board. Adhering the entire frame to the mounting board requires a high level of accuracy for the adjustment of the adhesive agent or the frame and is, therefore, relatively costly.